This announcement means that the NHS will continue to provide cancer patients with drugs that will help them to live a longer and better life.

"The introduction of the fund was a milestone in helping cancer patients to benefit from the best treatments in the world. Many more bowel cancer patients will now be given hope and peace of mind that these treatments will continue to be made available to them if recommended by their doctor.

A Labour MP has criticised David Cameron and accused his government of "scrapping expert cancer networks".

Liz Kendall, who is Shadow Minister for Care, says that despite his commitment to extending the Cancer Drugs Fund, the Prime Minister is not offering the "quality of cancer care" to patients.

The reality is that David Cameron is letting down cancer patients.

He has scrapped expert cancer networks that drove huge improvements in the quality of cancer care.

A recent report for Cancer Research UK found NHS staff were worried that the Government's NHS reorganisation was fragmenting cancer services and stalling the dramatic improvements in cancer treatment seen over the last decade.

David Cameron should also stand up to the tobacco lobby rather than caving in to them over standardised cigarette packaging, which experts say would be a powerful weapon in the long-term fight against cancer.

The Rarer Cancers Foundation, which campaigned for the Cancer Drugs Fund to be extended, have welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement.

The Cancer Drugs Fund has made a huge difference to cancer patients in England, significantly improving the quality of treatment available to people with advanced forms of cancer. It has also addressed some of the historic inequities that have existed for people with rarer cancers, ensuring that access to treatment is not denied simply because you are unlucky enough to have a rare form of cancer.

This is a compassionate, common sense announcement which will be warmly welcomed by many thousands of cancer patients. The NHS should be there when you need it the most. Without the Cancer Drugs Fund, NHS access to cancer drugs would go back a generation. With it, progress can continue.

– Andrew Wilson, chief executive of the Rarer Cancers Foundation

So far more than 34,000 patients have benefited from the fund and the charity estimates that 16,500 extra patients will benefit each year as a result of the extension of the funding programme.

Prime Minister David Cameron is today set to announce a £400 million cancer package to boost research and treatment for cancer patients across the country.

As part of the investment in the Cancer Drugs Fund thousands more patients in England will get the life-extending cancer drugs their doctors recommend.

When I became Prime Minister three years ago many patients with rare cancers were being denied life saving treatments. That is why we created the Cancer Drugs Fund, it is why we are extending it, and it is why we are partnering with Cancer Research UK to conduct new research into the effectiveness of cancer drugs. It is only because we have protected health spending that we can afford these life saving treatments.